Ex-Alpha's Regret: Siren's Comeback novel Chapter 98

POV: Seraphina

I spent the rest of the day in the command center, the contract Killian had proposed hovering in the air before me on the holo-table. I read every clause, every sub-section, every piece of legal jargon, my mind a sharp, analytical instrument. Jax sat in a chair in the corner, a silent, watchful presence, respecting my need to process this alone.

I was searching for the trap. My life with Damian had taught me that every gift had a price, every contract had a hidden clause. Power was never given freely; it was always loaned, with interest. I dissected the document, my eyes scanning for vague language, for loopholes, for anything that would give Killian leverage over me or my family.

But there was nothing. The contract was a masterpiece of legal clarity. It was almost aggressively fair. It outlined my responsibilities as a consultant, but it also enshrined my autonomy. It detailed the services his medical team would provide, but it explicitly stated that all medical decisions would remain under the authority of the Thorne family. It offered a staggering consultancy fee, but it was structured as payment for services rendered, not as a gift. It was a partnership of equals, codified in unbreakable legal terms. It was an act of profound, almost unbelievable, respect.

Still, a part of me hesitated. The wounded part. The part that whispered that this was too good to be true, that the other shoe would inevitably drop. The strategist in me knew this was the only logical choice. But the survivor was terrified of trusting another Alpha, of placing even a fraction of my family's fate in the hands of another.

I closed my eyes, shutting out the glowing text of the contract, and turned my focus inward. I sought the quiet, powerful presence that was now my constant companion.

What do you think? I asked my inner wolf, the question a silent thought directed into the landscape of my soul.

She was not pacing or snarling as she had been when Killian first arrived. She was lying in a patch of imagined moonlight, her massive silver head resting on her paws, her luminous eyes watching me. She considered the man, the offer, the contract. She did not see him as a male, as a rival Alpha. She saw his actions. The respect. The equality. The brilliant, strategic reframing of a gift into a transaction.

Then, I leaned over the table, and in the space designated for the lead consultant, I signed my own. Not ‘Siren'. Not ‘Luna'. I signed the name that was truly mine, the name I was now reclaiming.

Seraphina Thorne.

The stylus clicked softly as I lifted it from the table. The deal was done. It was more than a contract. It was a choice. A choice to trust again, not with the blind faith of a lover, but with the clear-eyed calculation of a queen.